At least five governors of the states that make up the Legal Amazon region will deliver a letter to the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), at COP27, proposing an alliance with the federal government for the preservation of the forest.
The governors are going to meet Lula this Wednesday (16th), at the stand that the consortium set up at the UN Climate Summit, in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.
The letter is still being negotiated between the governors and will have to incorporate specific points that minimally satisfy the political and economic interests of each state.
The differences between these positions became clear this Monday (14) during a meeting at COP27 with the presence of the governors of Acre, Gladson Cameli; from Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes; from Pará, Helder Barbalho; from Tocantins, Wanderlei Barbosa; and from Rondônia, Marcos Rocha.
Barbalho, who is temporarily leading the group at COP27 due to the absence of Waldez Góes, governor of Amapá and president of the consortium, was the most emphatic in defending an alliance with Lula’s environmental policies.
According to him, the fundamental point of the meeting with the president-elect will be to make it clear that “the states will be allies of the federal government in the sustainable and social development agenda and that they must adopt an agenda that must be committed to reducing emissions, with economic solutions for the Amazon and Brazil”.
One of the first names to invite Lula to participate in COP27, the governor of Pará said that the presence of the president-elect puts the country in a leading role.
A level of positive leadership, reinserting Brazil at the center of these discussions. I understand that the dialogue with the federal government will be a facilitator so that we can unite efforts around the agenda that reciprocally and collectively we will build
said Helder
The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes, who supported President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the electoral dispute, was much more reserved in his remarks about Lula, preferring to highlight messages for other countries.
Answering a question from CNN Brazil, Mendes said that a letter to the president-elect will talk about the importance of the Amazon for the country and for the world in a “different tone”.
“We want to discuss the Amazon in a tone of respect for our country, to discuss the payment of environmental services and the valorization of the forest. We need to guarantee respect for the Amazon and for all who live there.
We want to preserve the forest, but we also want the people of the Amazon to have the right to continue growing and developing,” he said.
The governor of Mato Grosso also complained about the behavior of certain countries that pressure Brazil to end deforestation.
We want to be treated with respect. (Countries need to) stop threatening us with embargoes, which is a big joke. Without Brazil as a global player, food prices would double
said the governor of Mato Grosso
Mendes said that Brazil needs to be respected for the great assets that the country has, including the Amazon rainforest itself.
Source: CNN Brasil
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